Members of Congress and Governors backing PhRMA/BIO, calling for 12 years data protection for biologic drugs in TPP

While the GOP and Democratic conventions highlight the differences between the parties, there are some bipartisan issues, and one of the biggest is taking care of corporate interests.

PhRMA has published a "Note To Media On Elected Officials Support For 12 Years of Data Protection In TPP". These are the letters from Members of Congress that PhRMA cites as supporting their position, calling for a requirement of 12 years of exclusive rights for test data protection in the TPP negotiations. Note that PhRMA/BIO support is deeply bipartisan, including many Democratic liberals such as Ed Markey, Patty Murray, John Kerry, etc.

The level of engagement by members of Congress and governors the 12 year test data issue illustrates both how dependent upon and corrupted by corporate campaign money is the Congress, and how little U.S. political figures care about people living in developing countries, where this policy is expected to have the greatest harm.

Given the substantial complexities of bringing biologics to market and the significant investment required to establish, and sustain development, it is critical that the TPP include 12 years of biologics data protection as found in U.S. law.

As you are aware, U.S. law provides for a 12-year term of regulatory data protection for biologics and we believe that should serve as the baseline for the administration’s objectives for this aspect of the negotiation. This 12-year term was the result of careful deliberations in which the U.S. Congress arrived at a bipartisan consensus taking into account and weighing many factors. It is our view that the agreed upon term of protection best supports the Congress’ goals of maintaining the nation’s competitiveness as the leading innovator of biologics products, increasing the number of high-value jobs, and improving access to safe and affordable medicines by creating a clear pathway for the regulatory approval of biosimilar drugs.

Because intellectual property rights are a cornerstone for job creation and American competitiveness, we urge you to ensure that the U.S. negotiators are given clear instructions to attain this negotiating objective.